


The Trouble with Secrets

by pandorium



Series: More Transparent Than Water And Thicker Than Blood [9]
Category: Wizards of Waverly Place
Genre: Angst, F/M, First Love, Forbidden Love, Incest, Longing, Magic, Pining, Siblings, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-07-10 01:26:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15938915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pandorium/pseuds/pandorium
Summary: The lies are piling up and the secrets are taking a toll on the both of them.





	The Trouble with Secrets

She leaned in close, touching his arm as she threw her head back to laugh.  Perfect rows of sparkling white teeth flashed under the fluorescent lights and Justin's eyes shone with pride.  How a girl could look that gorgeous under the harsh lighting in the school hallway grated on Alex's nerves.  She was glaring over Harper's shoulder as her best friend tried to placate her.  Alex wasn't really listening.  She was more focused on the way that her brother/boyfriend animatedly talked to the new girl, Chelsea, about whatever.  Probably something stupid and nerdy that Alex wouldn't understand in a million years.

"-sure that he doesn't have any interest in her," Harper assured Alex.

"Look at them it's sickening.  They might as well be dry humping against the lockers.  'Oh Justin you're **_sooo_** funny'," Alex imitated shrilly, tossing her recently shorn curls over her shoulder in an attempt to mimic the fan of flowing blonde locks that the nameless girl incessantly played with.

"To be fair you two really would dry hump against the lockers," Harper reminded her.

But Alex was still pretending as though she couldn't hear anything she said, deepening her voice to copy Justin, "Oh yeah, robots, math, I love to study, it's my favorite thing ever, blah, blah, blah."

"Pretty sure you're his favorite thing ever," Harper tried.

Alex's eyes flashed to her, hard and cold before her features softened.  "Sorry, I haven't been getting much sleep lately.  I can't even touch my boyfriend in public or in private.  The only time we have together is at night and it's driving me crazy."

Harper winced a bit when Alex referred to Justin as her boyfriend and she knew it was still weird for her best friend to hear her call her brother that.  To her credit the slight twitch was quickly overcome with an expression of concern as she took in the dark bruises beneath Alex's eyes.

"It's alright," she murmured, wrapping an arm around Alex to guide her in the opposite direction of Justin and "the bimbo".

Alex went reluctantly, resting her head on Harper's shoulder with a sigh.

 

Their father was suspicious.  That much was obvious by the squinty eyed look he gave them when Justin announced he and Alex were headed up to his room to study.  He may have believed him if it had been just Justin studying, may have even let it slide if Alex had grumbled and complained loudly.  As it was Alex’s eagerness to hit the books was setting their dad on edge and Justin knew that they wouldn’t have any real privacy.  He sighed as he led the way upstairs, hair on the back of his neck prickling in awareness of a quizzical gaze fixed on him as he did.

As soon as they were sheltered by the hallway Alex ran a hand over his back soothingly, crowding in closer as they reached his room.  Justin smiled, catching her hand at his lower back and tugging her in hurriedly after him.  He captured her full lips with his, fighting back the urge to grin as their mouths met so he could indulge in the pleasure of her kisses.  He’d been aching to press her up against any nearby surface and steal her breath all day. That surface happened to be the recently closed door of his bedroom, the jarring of it as she backed up into it sending Justin on high alert for anyone coming down the hall.  He wanted to lose himself in her but the prospect of being caught had him pulling away much too soon for either of them.

He led her to the bed instead, grabbing a heavy looking tome on the way to use as a prop in case of any nosy family members sticking their heads in.  They bounced onto their sides facing each other, the edges of the book reminding them that they had to maintain a respectable distance during the long hours they waited for the rest of the house to fall asleep.  They’d already had too many near misses and actual discoveries to last a lifetime, they stuck to rigid rules now.  Rules that they broke more often than not, but were still governing their lives with a heavy persistence.

So, they studied and made out and groped each other as much as they dared whenever they felt safe enough to.  And when they heard the loud riot of their father’s snoring and the slightly higher pitched whine of their brother’s they knew that their mom had firmly smashed her ear plugs in to drown out both of the sleeping Russo men.  They could finally breathe for a few hours.

 

Late at night.  That was the only time they felt at ease in their own house anymore.  When everything was still and they could finally relax.  Some nights they just slept, holding each other close and sharing air, too exhausted from another tense day to do anything else.  Sometimes they tore at each other, frenzied touches burning over their skin until they were left panting and aching.  Other times they’d sneak downstairs and go on a “date”.  Alex would dress up and Justin would make her a romantic midnight snack, candles lighting their meal, and tell her how beautiful she looked.  Or they’d play a movie on Netflix and ignore to it like they were two regular teenagers at the theater sneaking kisses in the back.

They whispered secrets in the dark, giggling quietly into each other’s mouths as they discovered new, uncharted aspects of each other.  They mapped each other’s bodies and minds, murmured fears and shouted furies.  They shared love and cast out worry by indulging in fantasies of their future together.  Like they had choices, options.  They clashed over jealousies and they made up with blush tinged apologies.  Brick by brick they built a castle out of trust and passion, of love and hate, of comfort and fights, of the similarities and differences.  And stone by stone it all came crumbling down again, the rubble forming weariness, longing, hurt, and betrayal.

 

It started with the questions…

 

“Are you gay?”

Justin startled, nearly dropping his backpack as though the deep, grumbling voice of the high school’s quarterback, Brad, had clunked over him over the head.

“No, why would you even think that?  I’ve had a **_girlfriend_**.  You know, Juliet, that super-hot blonde girl?”

The jock gave him a blank look.

“You know the girl who used to stand by my locker and just ignore you while you tried to hit on her?” Justin prompted.

“Oh, she was with you?  Man, I just thought that maybe she was like waiting for you to move so she could get to her locker,” Brad guffawed, slowly meandering past Justin without answering his question.

 

“Do you want to go on a date?”

“No.”

“But-”

“No!” Alex snapped, gaze never lifting from her phone as she stomped down the hall and all over whatever-his-name-is-from-the-history-class-she-only-goes-to-once-a-week’s dreams.

 

“Would you maybe want to go see a movie sometime?”

“Uh-what?” Justin sputtered out.

“Movie? With me?” Chelsea inquired, brows lifted hopefully as Justin gaped at her.

“Can’t, sorry,” he managed, swallowing the spit he’d choked on.

“Oh, yeah, okay.” Followed him down the hallway as he speeded towards his next class.

 

Kept going with the answers…

 

“I don’t want a girlfriend right now, Dad.  I’m trying to focus on school,” Justin insisted.

 

“No, I don’t want to call Mason!  I don’t want a boyfriend right now,” Alex huffed.

 

“I don’t think we can do this anymore, Justin,” she hiccupped, tears streaming down her cheeks in thick rivers, mascara clumping onto her lashes and smearing beneath her eyes.

 

…And ended with the deafening sound of two hearts shattering.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't fret! There's one more story!


End file.
